Abu Dhabi’s newest sovereign wealth fund appointed its board and outlined the broad direction of its portfolio, marking its arrival on the global dealmaking scene. L’IMAD Holding Co. recently joined other Gulf investors backing Paramount Skydance’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, its most prominent move after disclosing its first public transaction (and existence) in October.
Bankers will be familiar with the leadership of the fund, which joins an expanding alphabet soup that includes ADIA, ADQ, and Mubadala — together controlling roughly $2 trillion in assets. L’IMAD will be chaired by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with Mubadala’s Khaldoon Al Mubarak on the board. CEO Jassem Al Zaabi also serves as vice chairman of the UAE Central Bank.
L’IMAD plans to invest in the UAE and internationally, targeting most sectors of the economy, including infrastructure and real estate, financial services and asset management, advanced industries and technologies, urban mobility, and smart cities.